054/A FFG Thread II

[Tam]

Great find. These ships have tested all sorts of radars before. Not all of them went to service though, but they can be works in progress.

This one did not end up in service but was proposed for the trimaran frigate. Though it is single sided it looks related to the new radar.







If you take the new radar on the Type 075, assume one side is the S-band and one side is the X-band, imagine if you have a variation to that radar where both sides are S-band, and that is what I expect this new radar would be. The array alone can be using technology from the Type 346A, so its like a down scaled, economy version, with only two sides and much less elements, which is a lot lighter on the billing invoice.

 

[Blitzo]

Great find. These ships have tested all sorts of radars before. Not all of them went to service though, but they can be works in progress.

This one did not end up in service but was proposed for the trimaran frigate. Though it is single sided it looks related to the new radar.


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If you take the new radar on the Type 075, assume one side is the S-band and one side is the X-band, imagine if you have a variation to that radar where both sides are S-band, and that is what I expect this new radar would be. The array alone can be using technology from the Type 346A, so its like a down scaled, economy version, with only two sides and much less elements, which is a lot lighter on the billing invoice.

A twin face rotating AESA derived from Type 346A would be a very economical, mature and low risk but still capable radar for the next generation frigate.
Being a smaller array than a full sized 346A and twin face means it could probably be mounted at the top of a mast like sea eagle, offering good radar horizon, and as a rotating twin face radar, if it is sufficiently fast then it would basically be somewhat similar to SAMPSON.

They've tested a number of seemingly solid state rotating, squarish radars on the test ships and on land before as well.

 

[NCC74656B]

New FFG is under construction.

 

[Tam]

A twin face rotating AESA derived from Type 346A would be a very economical, mature and low risk but still capable radar for the next generation frigate.
Being a smaller array than a full sized 346A and twin face means it could probably be mounted at the top of a mast like sea eagle, offering good radar horizon, and as a rotating twin face radar, if it is sufficiently fast then it would basically be somewhat similar to SAMPSON.

They've tested a number of seemingly solid state rotating, squarish radars on the test ships and on land before as well.

I cannot see this on a destroyer so its 100% going on a frigate. I would raise the possibility of XX4B to a high degree.

The angled, slanted radar faces are also a cool touch in reducing the radar's own RCS.

The possibility the next frigate will have a SAMPSON like approach to its search radar goes back to the Wuhan Chinese Lantern style mockup. The lantern dome should be housing a single or dual faced rotating search radar. I suppose the lantern design has been axed for this one.

The slope of the new radar might also suggest how the mast of the new frigate might look now, as it might match the angle of the slant as in the photo of the previous post.

 

[Blitzo]

I cannot see this on a destroyer so its 100% going on a frigate. I would raise the possibility of XX4B to a high degree.

The angled, slanted radar faces are also a cool touch in reducing the radar's own RCS.

The possibility the next frigate will have a SAMPSON like approach to its search radar goes back to the Wuhan Chinese Lantern style mockup. The lantern dome should be housing a single or dual faced rotating search radar. I suppose the lantern design has been axed for this one.

The slope of the new radar might also suggest how the mast of the new frigate might look now, as it might match the angle of the slant as in the photo of the previous post.

It's definitely more frigate sized; and the fact that it's coming out right around the time when we would expect given recent 054B rumours, I'd say it's very likely and almost comically likely intended for 054B.

And this picture confirms it is a two face radar (from the weibo above)

 

[Tam]

If you see the wedge of the radar there, I would say the mast of the frigate would follow the same slope angle, so if the radar is fixed on this position, it would be seamless with the pyramid mast and you achieve the best RCS reduction as a result.

From there, the shape, size and slant of the pyramid mast opens possibilities for other smaller fixed faced radars and arrays of other use to be installed across all four faces.

 

[Blitzo]

A comparison of the radar pic taken from the side on angle compared with this pic of 891 which tested the 054A's weapons and sensor suite back in the day.

 

[Tiberium]

How much smaller is it compared to the 346A? Maybe only 1/3 of total number of T/R modules compared to 346A single panel-wise?

 

[Blitzo]

How much smaller is it compared to the 346A? Maybe only 1/3 of total number of T/R modules compared to 346A single panel-wise?

The Type 346A tested on 891 and on 052D is a square array, and assuming each array of the new two face rotating radar is also square (which seems to be the case), we can eyeball pics of 891 testing the 346A from back in the day to roughly get a gauge:

Looks like the overall width x height of the new radar array is each 2/3 that of the 346A.

2/3 x 2/3 would give us 44.4% the total array size of Type 346A, which looks about right to me and a very good array size for a frigate relative to a destroyer.

For example, the EASR intended for FFGX is made up of 9 RMAs, while the SPY-6 on Burke III is 37 RMAs which is of course only 24.3% of the Burke's array size.

 

[Tam]

Based on the shape, if you are chasing after RCS reduction, the supporting mast is a pyramid shape with the side and angle that must match the angle face and slope of the radar. It would perfectly fit as an integrated mast with other panels that can be installed into the pyramid mast. The three things that comes in mind to fit in such as mast would be a four sided X-band AESA for fire control, and you can take this set from the one on the Type 055. Then you have a strip on all four sides for IFF, followed by rectangular panels for CEC. My guess is the CEC panels would be between the S-band AESA on the top and the X-band FCR on embedded on the mast, with the IFF strip below the X-band so it can be long enough.